Manifolding register



Feb. 6, 1940. l c. w. laFaENN` MANIFOLDING REGISTER 2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed May 2, 196

Feb. 6, 1940. c. w. BRENN MANIFOLDING REGISTER Filed May 2, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mm mm, u.

---Illllllll ILV' ATTORNEY INVENTOR ar lfrezz BY Patented Feb. 6, 1940 UNITE 's'r'rss K MANIFOLDING REGISTER 4Carl W; Brenn, Montclair, N. J., assigner to 4 lintcgraphic Register Company, Hoboken, N.

a corporation of New Jersey Application May 2, 1936, serial No. 77,502

6 Claims.

This invention relates to manifolding registers. Although the invention is not thus to be limited, it has primarily been madefor, and .is of particular value when embodied as, a small, lightweight, readily portable machine, that is, one

which can be carried around easily, as by a salesperson or clerk frequently moving from place to place.

An object of the invention is to provide in `a manifolding register, a new and improved record strip advancing mechanism characterized by simplicity of construction, reliability of operation and ease of manipulation. v l f Another object is to provide a novel and valuable starter means for the strip-advancing mechanism of a manifolding register. I

Another object is to provide a register satisltying one or both of the objects foregoing, wherein also the record copies or slips canV be stored in a recordfcompartment while at the same time maintaining the size and weight of theregister at a minimum.

Still another object is to provide such a register as that last described, and one wherein the record sheets are longitudinal subdivisions of a record strip wound on a roller in a record-receiving compartment, with such roller 'rotated in timed relation with, and participating to an advantageous .extent in the operation of, the stripadvancing mechanism.

A further object is to provide-a strip-feeding or advancing mechanism of the annular type but with the rotatory members thereof of very much smaller diameterI than heretofore thought possible, yet able to advance a plurality of lrecord l strips simultaneously, and to repeat suchl advance a great number of times, each such vadvance being over a form-length along the strips, with only negligible disturbance of registry between the form-lengths of the diierent strips.

Another object is to provide, in connection with a strip-feeding mechanism of the '.annulartype, and adapted when required for handling a plurality of strips which at vform-length intervals therealong are provided with feed-arresting apertures, notches or equivalents, a novel and valuable meansA for arresting the feed of thestrips when advanced a form-length. v

'Another object is to provide such an arresting means, and one which is of extreme simplicity yetl readily releasable to allow thestrips to be fed another form-length. f

A further object is to provide an arresting and releasing meansffor the strip-advancing mechansm of extreme simplicity, yet one which need (ol. 282-16) v f be maintained in operative position only for that portion of an instant required to start the stripadvancing mechanism atthe initiation of a formfeecling operation thereof. l

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. f p

In the accompanying drawings which show a practical embodiment of the invention, and one now preferred. n

Figure l, in full lines, shows such register closed and locked and ready for use.

Fig. 2 shows the same in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of said register, with the top cover and the platen and associated parts removed, and with certain parts shown in section.

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section, with the top cover in place and there locked, and showing also the platen and its associated parts.

Fig. 5 is a detail elevational view, looking'in the direction of thevarrow 5 in Fig. 3 and alsov in the direction of the arrow 5 in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 shows the partsl of Fig. 5,` but in hori- Zontal section. y

Fig. '7 is a detail elevational View of the parts 'behind the vertical plane l--l .of Eg. 6.

Fig. 8 is a transverservertical sectionalview, taken through'the closed casing on the line 8-,8

of Fig. 3.

, said parts are seen in Fig. 8. v

The register of the present invention, in the exemplifying embodiment thereof illustrated in the drawings, is shown as having a casing I0,

within which is a platen l l, and the top of which is adapted to beuclosed by a cover l2 hinged to the casing at i3. This cover'v incorporates a marginal frame for the platen, such frame surrounding a writing opening iii overlying the platen and .for exposing therethrough a sheet or form-length subdivision (marked lla in Figure 1) of the uppermost one of a plurality of record strips. Three of such strips are shown in Fig'. 4, marked respectively lii, l1 and I8.

Cover l2, conventionally, includes a portion constituting a hand-rest I2a, and the cover is also shown shaped so as torincorpcrate a hood l2?) for housing a certain strip-overlying rotary subdivision of the strip-advancing,mechanism, and so as to present beyond such hood in the direction of strip-feed a vtear-off edge or knife 427s; such knife roofing over an exit opening I9 for the sheets carried by all the record strips employed, as the strips I6, Il and I8, which are to be severed and distributed. As is understood in the art, all the sheets making up a matching set of form-length subdivisions of all the record sheets employed are advanced from their previously halted position over the platen Il, after these have been inscribed while so haltedbyoperation of the strip-advancing mechanism which advances all the strips simultaneously a formlength extent; and when the strips to be severed are thereby issued from the machine through opening I9, usually a perforated or other weakened or otherwise predetermined tear-off line on each of the strips is brought below the knife I 2k, while the lowermost sheet, that one forming part of the strip I8, is deflected within the machine for entry into a suitable storage compartment, here a compartment 28. As is also understood in the art, each mating set of sheets on all the record strips, while such set is at rest on the platen, are simultaneously similarly inscribed by the use of suitable duplicating or manifolding instrumentalities; these last being here shown, as indicated in Figure 4, as comprising carbon sheets 2l, held in place according to principles well known in the art. These strips are free at their left-hand ends and also along their sides as far as their right-hand marginal portions, where they are secured to holding bars having opposite ends secured to points on the platen beyond the opposite side edges off the record strips by way of a plurality of hooks one of which is shown at 23.

Below the platen II the casing IQ is shown as incorporating a supply compartment 24 for a zigzag folded pad or stack of record strips; in the making of which pad, according to a practice now known in the art, the strips are superposed before the zigzag folding so that the sheets appropriate to a set thereof are properly inter leaved incidental to such folding.

This compartment, at one side thereof, terminates in a partition-plate 25, having an inwardly and downwardly extending struck-outleaf or tongue 25a, for engaging a side of said pad or stack, as indicated at 25 in Figure 1, and for serving other purposes, as will hereinafter appear.

At 26 (Fig. 4) is shown, partially broken away, one of a pair of plate-hangers, suitably secured to the platen Il, and mounting between them a roller 21 over which the record strips I6, I1 and I8 are guided for passage onto the receiving end IIa of the platen, as successive sets of sheets are drawn from the top of the zigzag folded pad or stack. i

Like the cover I2, the platen il is hinged at one side to a side wall of the casing, at i3; that is, side wall oi' the casing marked lila, in Fig. 2, and also the platen and the cover, are each provided with a line of offset and spaced extensions curled into hinge-collars all taking a common pintle-rod 23. One of such collars of each of the casing, of the platen and of the cover, are marked in Fig. 2, respectively, IGC, i ic and I2C. When the platen is lowered as shown in Fig. 4, the side thereof opposite its hinged side, rests on a shelf l id slightly above a horizontal flange at the top of partition-plate 25, such flange being marked 2519 in Fig. 3. When the cover I2 is thereafter lowered as shown in Figure 1, the side thereof opposite its hinged side rests on the top edge of the side wall of the casing adjacent to said partitionplate.

When the cover I2 is lowered, the part I2a thereof coacts with the tops of the carbon-hanging hooks 23 to hold the platen against other than negligible displacement from its position as shown in Fig. 4, even when the machine is turned upside-down. When the machine is in working position, that is, is arranged upright and substantially horizontal, the platen by its own weight cornes properly to rest on the shelf Ild.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, a locking means for the cover is shown as including a rib-like projection 29, offset from the far side of the platehanger 26 seen in Fig. 4, and a seizing keeper or hook 30a formed at one side of an opening 30D in a shift-bar or bolt 321. This bolt, between partition-plate 25 and the adjacent side wall of the casing, is guided in its endwise shiftings between a widened terminal part 25h (Fig. 3) ci flange 25h and a pair of ribs 3i suitably iixed in place (Fig. 4). The lock is preferably double acting; that is, the bolt is provided with two hooks and projections to be seized by the hooks-such additional hook and projection being indicated in Fig. 3 at 29 and 30a. respectively.

As the bolt 3) is shown in Fig. 4, the cover is locked closed. When, however, such bolt is shifted to the right, hook Sila is disengaged from the projection 29, the opening 30h being wide enough to allow this, and the cover is unlocked. Such unlocking is accomplished by applying the proper key (not shown) to a key hole 32 in a lock barrel 32 in a lock-case 33; said barrel being rotatable by the proper key about its pivot 32a and carrying an eccentric 32h fitting in an opening 30e in the bolt. Thus, on turning the barrel in one direction or the other, the bolt is shifted toward the right or toward the left in Fig. 4. in the first case to unlock the cover I2. and in the second case to lock such cover.

t will be noted that it is the lock-case 33 which at its top surface provides the aforesaid shelf Hd on which platen Il rests by gravity during operation of the machine.

When the cover is closed and locked, it closes and also locks a curvilinear auxiliary end-cover 3Q when the last-mentioned cover has been previously closed. This cover 34, hinged at 35 to the casing sides, is openable as shown in Fig. 4, but is seen in locked condition in Figures l and 2, a terminal lip thereof, marked 34d in Fig. 3, being then caught under the at endportion of the cover I2 adjacent the knife I 2k and being positively so held by the engagement of a stud I2e (Figure l) downwardly projected from the underside of cover I2 so as to enter an accommodating properly placed aperture in said lip 34a..

When the cover 34 is opened, access is had to the interior of the record compartment 20, to thread the leading end of a leading sheet on the lowermost record strip into a gripper carried by a wind-up roller 36, and to remove the strip previously wound thereon. Referring in this connection to Figs. 3 and 4, said roller is shown as of square cross-section and carrying a strip 31 L-shaped in cross-section. One of the two leaves making up this strip is shown vertically disposed in Fig. 4, and this leaf is suitably made fast to a fiat face of a roller 35, so that the other leaf of the strip, outwardly lipped at its free edge, snugly facewisely engages another flat face of the roller. Such face engagement of these parts, when the last-mentioned leaf is resiliently urged against the roller, as is preferably accomplished by providing strip 3l of thin spring metal, affords a.

convenient means for. securelyA attaching the leading end of a record strip to the roller, so that on turning of the latter in an anti-clockwise direction as seen in Fig. 4, such strip can be wound up tightly on the roller.

The journalling means for the roller includes at one end of the latter a recess 38 taking a trunnion 39a; the roller at its other end carrying a small pointed stud 46 seated in a hole 4l in a plate 42 secured to a side wall of `the casing.

In order to remove the roller from its journalling mounts, the following parts are provided. The roller has a cylindrical chamber 36a at its end adjacent to the stud 40, said stud being at the outer end of a stem 43 carrying a cylindrical plunger 43 in said chamber. The plunger is urged to protrusion by an expansile coil spring 44 in chamber 36a and surrounding the stem 43 guided in a bore 36h coaxial with chamber 36a;

but said plunger is restrained to telescopic integrity with roller 36 by a pin-and-slot connection 46. Plate 42 in its \side facing the interior of the record compartment 2l), is slotted as indicated at 4l, this slot terminating at the hole 4I.

To demount the roller 36, as to remove a record strip wound thereon, said roller is moved endwisely to telescope over plunger 43. whereupon the roller can be swung laterally to clear its endearrying recess 38 from trunnion 39. To remount 'the roller, it is cantwisely inserted to cause its recess 38 angularly to engage the trunnion, and the pin 40 is then entered into the groove 4l and pushed along said groove until it snaps into the hole- 4|.

When so mounted the roller 36 is rotated with a spur gear 46, by a frictionv connection including a rubber washer 49 between said gear vand the flange illustrated on the adjacent end of the roller; such washer being somewhat compressed by the end thrust of such flange, dueto the action of the spring 45, when the roller is vin place.

Trunnion 39al is part (Figs. 5 and 6) of a' stubshaft 39 having a central smooth part journaled in a pair of matching apertures in a side wall of the casing I6 and in a plate 5f! riveted to said wall as indicated at 5l in Fig. 3. Stub-shaft 39 is shown in Fig. 6 as provided with straight knurlings. whereby gear 48 and a ratchet 52 may be made fast thereon by forced t. Said ratchet is on the outside of the side wall last-mentioned, but within a cup-like box 53 within which is mounted a pawl 54 (Fig. 7) for the ratchet and a leaf spring 55 for urging the pawl toward engagement with the teeth of the ratchet. Box 53 is provided with a central opening having a loose fit around the hub of ratchet 52, and is secured in place by screws 56. Thus the gear 48 and roler 36 can be freely rotated in an anti-clockwise direction as viewed in- Fig. 4, but never in the reverse direction, because of the ratchet and pawl just described.

The means for thus rotating said gear and roller is here shown as comprising a hand-crank means of collapsible type; this means including an arm 5l pivotally mounted at 58 and carrying at its free end a handle or knob 59. Said arm is thus pivoted to a pair of ears 66a upstanding from a plate 65 held against but rotatable relative to the outer surface of box 53. A nut 6| is applied to a threaded end-length 39h of studshaft 39; this nut being so shouldered, such lshoulder being shown in Fig. 6, as not only to mount plate 6i) as just above described, but also so as to be free of engagement with the hub portion of ratchet 52. Above such shoulder, the nut 6l is square, and beyond its square formation, it is shaped like thefrustum vof a cone, so that when the arm 57 is swung from its collapsed position, shown in full lines in Figures 1 and 3 and `in broken lines in Fig. 2, to the position shown in dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 2,.which is its operating position, a square opening 51a therein keys the arm to the square portion of nut 6I. A spring 62 is provided normally lto urge the arm 5l away from its position and keyed to. nut as just explained. When, however, arm 5l is in its collapsed-position, it is frictionally held in that position, asthen the knob 59 is partially entered into the casing through a suitable aperture in the adjacent side wall thereof for frictional seizure by theV matchingly shaped portions 63a of a leaf spring 65 otherwise of hairpin shape held in an 'accommodatingly formed pocket 64 in a plate,

not shown, suitably secured to a partition-plate 25 below the latters top flange 25h. While the arm 5l is thus held in collapsed position, the crown of the knob 59 lies against the leaf 25a vand isv partitioned olf by the latter from the record-strip contents of the supply compartment 24.

Referring to the strip-advancing means shown, this includes a strip-underlying annular member in the form of a roller 66 and strip-overlying annular member in the form of a roller 65. During strip feeding, the roller 65 turns in a clockwise direction and the roller 66 in a counterclockwise direction as these rollers are seen in Fig. 4, simultaneously with rotation of the roller 36 as above described, that is, in a counterclockwise direction. A spur gear which turns with the lastmentioned roller meshes with a spur gear 61 (Fig. 4), and this gear 6"! meshes with a spur gear 6B (Fig. 8) xed on a shaft 69 on which is secured roller 66. Gear y63 meshes with a spur gear 'l0 (Figs. 4 and 8) fixed onla shaft 'H on which is secured roller 65. As indicatedy in Fig. 8, shaft 69 is journaled in side plates suitably fixed in the casing I6, and shaft 'll is journaled in side plates suitably xed in the cover l2.

VThus, when the cover is opened, the roller 65 is bodily lifted away from the roller 66.

The rollers 65 and 56 are shown as interrupted at points along their lengths, each roller being thereby divided into a longer central portion and shorter terminal portions, these last for engaging the strips along side margins thereof and the longer central roller lengths for engaging the strips at the main central portions thereof.

As shown, one of the rollers, here the upper roller 65, Yhas a knurled working surface, this roller being preferably of metal. As the invention is now understood, one of the two rollers 65 and. 66 should be considerably softer than the other. In the present case, the lower roller 66 is of soft rubber. Then, with the roller shafts spaced apart, as they are in the embodiment of the'invention now being described, somewhat less than the sum of the radii of the two rollers when the rubberv roller is free from any deforming constraint, the rubber roller 66 is compressed by the harder roller 65 along the line of contact between the two rollers in euch manner that this contact is not a mere line one but is of appreciable if not considerable width; the rubber roller being bulged laterally to a noticeable extent in the actual operating machine. Such bulging may have, and probably has, considerable to do with the true explanation of why said machine in practice operates with such high efficiency so far as is concerned its action in advancing to tear-off position a large `number of successive form-length subdivisions of a plurality of record strips without having one or more of these strips longitudinally creep relative to ot-her or others thereof and consequently without causing their form-registering apertures, notches or equivalent elements to lose registration.

Referring to Figure 1, a plurality of the elements last referred to, here in the form of apertures o a familiar type, are indicated at 12.

These apertures are provided for the purpose of arresting all the strips simultaneously at the conclusion of each form-feeding advance thereof.

The strip-arresting means here shown, and the means here shown which releases the latter when the strips are again to be advanced a form-length extent, will now be described.

Extended within the spacings between the major and minor subdivisions of the rollers 65 and 56, are upstanding hooks 13 at the ends of fingers 1d horizontally extended from the top of a plate supported -flatwisely against a vertical transverse wall 16 having at its lower edge a flange 16a secured to the bottom of the casing as indicated at 11 in Fig. 3. Plate 15 is bodily movable in an up and down direction relative to wall 16, because held slidably thereagainst by rivets 18 the shanks of which not only pass through suitable apertures in said wall but also act as the pin elements of two pin-and-slot connections between said plate and wall the slots whereof are formed in the plate. These slots, near opposite ends of said plate, are seen at 1s in Fig. 8, one of them being very clearly shown in Fig. 9. A V-shaped leaf spring 8U centrally secured by a screw 8|, and having end portions similarly resiliently acting in an upward direction on fingers 14, urges plate 15 toward its elevated position and in such manner as always to hold said plate against canting from the horizontal in any position thereof and during up and down movements thereof.

When the plate 15 is elevated, the hooks 13 are in position to enter the apertures 12 of a mating set of sheets carried by the record strips, so as to engage said sheets as soon as they, in course of advancement, have been fed forward far enough to bring under the knife I2lc the tear-off lines of those of said sheets which are to be severed and distributed.

In order, when said engagement occurs, to lock the rollers 55 and 66 against further rotation in strip-advancing direction, a ratchet 82 is xed on the shaft on which is secured the roller 66; and the instant the hook 13 enters the apertures 12 of a mating set of sheets carried by the record strips, the plate 15 is elevated to the position shown in the drawings, thus raising a leaf-spring pawl S3, carried by the plate, to the illustrated engagement with ratchet 82.

However, during that part of any strip advancement which follows an initial forward feeding of the form-lengths then to be advanced suf ciently to pass the apertures 12 beyond the hooks 13, once these hooks have been held lowered during said initial feeding, by the means described ini the paragraph next below, the solid portions of the strips thus brought over the upper ends of the hooks (which ends are smoothly blunt) exert a downward pressure on these hooks great enough to overbear the relatively light tension of the spring all. Consequently, the plate 15 is maintained depressed, thereby holding the pawl 83 away from the ratchet 82. It will be noted in this connection that the hooks 13 are here shown as located substantially in vertical alignment with the axes of rotation of the rollers 65 and 66. Due to the downward pressure from the solid portions of the strips, once the plate has been thus depressed it will be so maintained until, as the result of strip-advancing rotations of the rollers 65 and 68, apertures corresponding to the apertures 12, and carried by a following set of sheets on the record strips, pass over and engage the hooks 13, thereby to arrest strip advancement as above described.

In order manually to release the strip-arresting hooks 13, for the initiation of a strip advancement, means is shown which includes a :ringer-piece 84 at the side of the machine opposite to that carrying the operating arm or handle 51. This finger-piece is fixed on a transverse rock-shaft 85, suitably journaled near opposite sides of the casing, and having xed thereon sleeve 86 carrying a pair of curved claws 81 (Figs. 3 and 8) each extending through a slot in the Wall 16 and through an opening in plate 15, as shown perhaps most clearly in Fig. 4, where the slot there illustrated is marked 33.

Operation The handle 31 being set in the operating position Shown in dot-and-dash lines in Figure 1, when it is desired to advance the strips a formlength extent the finger-piece St is rocked in the direction indicated by the arrow Sila in Fig. 4. Thereby, the claws 8l are swung down. This lowers the hooks 13 below the apertures 12 when engaged by said hooks, and also clears the pawl 83 away from the ratchet 32.

While the finger-piece is momentarily held thus out of its normal position, as by a slight thrust by the middle finger of one hand, the handle 51 is turned by the other hand that slight amount sufficient to advance the strips to pass the apertures last-mentioned beyond the hooks.

Said nger-piece may now be released, as the solid portion of the record strips now over the hooks 13 maintain the ratchet E2 and pawl 83 out of engagement.

From this point on it is merely necessary to turn the handle 51 in the same direction as before-a counterclockwise one, as such handle is seen in Fig. 2. During such rotation of thc handle, the rollers 65 and 65 are rotated, and while they coact to effect strip advancement, the roller 36 is simultaneously turned in the proper direction to wind-up thereon the sheet of the lowermost record strip corresponding to the sheets of the overlying record strips which are being advanced passed the knife 127s.

As soon as the tear-off lines of the sheets lastmentioned arrived under side knife, the apertures 12 of the follower set of sheets on the record strips arrive over the hooks 13, the spring 8i) elevates the plate 15, and the pawl 82 again engages the ratchet 83, locking the handle 51 against further rotation.

Due to the gearing together as already explained of the rollers S55 and 66, and to the ratchet pawl means of Fig. 1 associated with the roller 36, the strip-advancing mechanism can at no time be operated in the direction opposite to that required for strip advancement.

During portage of the machine, or otherwise when convenient, handle 51 is collapsed as shown in Fig. 3, and. then the length of the register is made even shorter than the over-all unusually short length thereof made possible by the employment of a wind-up roller in the record comaxis of the upper'roller; and a second manualir partment and by the fact that the strip-advancing mechanism of the present invention avoids the previous necessity of having at least one of the strip-underlying and strip-overlying annular strip-engaging means, said means here shown as comprising the rollers 65 and 655 of comparatively large diameter as compared to the diameter of the other. Also, due to the fact that the arm til is normally urged by the spring 62 toward the collapsed position shown in Fig. 3, there is never any chance that accidental or casual rotation of said arm will inadvertently cause strip advancement, even when at the instant of such casual movement finger-piece 84 is accidentally kickedover in the direction shown by the arrow Sea in Fig. 4.'

Variations and modifications may be made Within the scope of this invention, and portions of the improvements may be used Without others.

I claim:

l. In a manifolding machine for record strips having cut-away portions at form-length intervals therealong with all said cut-away portions in line along the strip to dene a band-portion of the strip runningl longitudinally thereof, a strip-advancing means comprising solely a strip-- overlying roller and Aa strip-underlying roller; a manual .actuator for said rollers; mounting means for said -rollers for maintaining them constantly in stripeadvancing adjacency during and between successive strip advancements, said rollers being so shaped that they are constantly out of engagement with said band-portion of the strip; a strip-arresting means including a detent for engaging la cut-away portion of a strip at the completion of an operation of said strip-advancing means to advance a strip a suilicient amount to bringa'cut-away portion of the strip to a location approximately vertically below the taining said detent member ineffective;

actuator forfreeing the detent from its said engagement during initial operation of the firstmentioned manual actuator while the latter is operating the strip-advancing means.

2. A manifolding machine as in claim l, Wherein there is a meansfor yieldably urging said detent member toward engagement with said portion.

3. A maniolding machine as in claim l, Wheref in there is a means for yieldably urging said detent member toward engagement with said portion; and there is also a means including said rollers for maintaining said detent member ineective following a strip advance sucienttomove said v)portion beyond said location, the means last-mentioned also including the corpus of the ,record strip.

4. A manifolding machine as in claim l, Wherein there is a means for locking vsaid advancing means against further strip-advancing operation when said detent engages said cut-away portion.l

5. A manifolding machine as in claim 1, Where'- in there are provided a means for locking said advancing means against further strip-advancing operation when said detent engages said cut-away portion; means including said rollers formamand means for rendering said locking means ineffective, both the means last-mentioned acting When a record strip advance is eiected suiiicient to move said cut-away portion beyond said location.

6. A manifolding machine as in claim 1, Wherein there is a means for yieldably urging said detent member toward engagement' with ,said

Acut-avvay portion, the paper upon being moved bythe rollers acting to maintainsaid detent free CARL W. BRENN.

during operation of the first-mentioned actuator. 

